Zillah

Biblical Record

Zillah appears only in the genealogy of Cain in Genesis 4. Lamech, a fifth-generation descendant of Cain, took two wives: one was Adah, and the other was Zillah (Genesis 4:18–19).

Zillah bore a son, Tubal-cain, and a daughter, Naamah. The text introduces Tubal-cain as one who forged all kinds of sharp tools of bronze and iron (Genesis 4:22). Together with Adah's sons, Jabal and Jubal, he is associated with the beginnings of herding, music, and metalworking (see Jabal, Jubal, and Tubal-cain).

Zillah's name also appears in the Song of Lamech. Lamech addresses his two wives, saying, "Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice" (Genesis 4:23, KJV), and then declares that he has slain a man who wounded him (Genesis 4:23–24). The Bible records no words or actions of Zillah herself.

Significance in Scripture

Together with Lamech, Zillah belongs to the first recorded instance in Scripture of a man married to two wives. For this reason, her presence is read as part of the portrayal of life in Cain's line following the account of Cain and Abel. The New Testament does not mention Zillah.

Interpretations and Issues

• Many Protestant commentators read Lamech's bigamy and his song boasting of revenge as illustrating the progressive deepening of sin within Cain's line. Other interpreters, by contrast, hold that the genealogy's emphasis lies on presenting the origins of civilization.
• The name is sometimes explained as related to the Hebrew word for "shade" or "shadow," but this interpretation is not settled.
• Jewish midrashic tradition (rabbinic literature that expounds the biblical text) reportedly preserves a story that Lamech kept one wife for bearing children and the other for her beauty. This story is not found in the biblical text.
• The Lamech mentioned in Genesis 5 as the father of Noah is a descendant of Seth and is a different person from Zillah's husband. Zillah is also unrelated to the word Selah, which appears in the Psalms.

In the Korean Church

Sermons or Sunday school lessons devoted specifically to Zillah are rare. Her name is mentioned mainly in sermons on Lamech's bigamy and his song, or in Bible studies comparing the genealogies of Cain and Seth.